As this blog begins to grow and find itself, I find myself thinking more and more about music, and using this space to put forward and review interesting bands and albums. The blog title, by the way, refers to where I keep my favorite concert T-shirts, in case you were curious; so without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to an album I recently found in the Electronic section of Rough Trade Records in London - The Polyamorous Affair's Bolshevik Disco.
The introduction track, "The Interrogation," starts thing off with, quite literally, a bang, as the listener is barraged with a sampling of warfare with a militaristic drumbeat and vaguely menacing gunshots with a static staccato of fuzzy voices in the background while a slowly building crescendo of synthesizers begins to blanket everything, enveloping the track with a purveying sense of tension. It's a bit like one of those WWII propaganda films fed through a filter of European electronic je ne sais quoi. It's a fine intro, and the album itself moves forward effortlessly, like a disco shark through the turquoise waters of a pastoral sea. My imagination is piqued, and Bolshevik Disco takes off running with it.
The Polyamorous Affair were founded in 2008 by Eddie Chacon and Sissy Sainte-Marie. Based out of Los Angeles, they self-released their eponymous debut to critical acclaim (Perez Hilton was an earlier admirer) and were then signed up by Manimal Vinyl (who also have under their umbrella the amazing Bat For Lashes). Bolshevik Disco is their second release.
Here are some of my thoughts of this album.
First off, I'd like to take a moment to enthusiastically put forward my choice for stand-out track "You Are." Consisting entirely of a delightful back-and-forth vocal exchange between Chacon and Sainte-Marie, this song features a series of fun and whimsical plays on rhymes; it's infectious and hypnotic track, to say the least. Sample lyric:
"You are my dark side of the moon,
A room without a view,
A song that ends too soon,
A helium balloon ..."
I can easily picture "You Are" as spoken vows at an intergalactic space-age wedding. Very cool.
Their cover of Lou Reed's "Satellite of Love" evokes a melancholic ennui that is furthered delicately by Sainte-Marie's breathy vocals shimmering over a wobbly rhythm of synthesizers and a steady percussion, stained with a distant current of gentle guitars. It makes an impression of how one must feel loneliness in the vacuum of space, staring at the stars as they whir past in a frenzy.
Flexing their rave muscles on "Eastern," the sound conjures up fond memories of New Order when they camped out in Ibiza for the recording of their dance masterpiece Technique.
"White Hot Magic" takes me back to the 80's heyday of synth-pop, on a trail that was blazed in Europe by such acts as Cetu Javu and Camouflage. Very danceable, and mesmerizing.
My only complaint (and it is but a minor quibble to say the least) is that the album itself is quite short, clocking in at just over thirty minutes long. Most of the ten tracks on display here fall into the two-to-three minute range, and I feel they could have let loose just a bit more often, resulting in meandering soundscapes suitable for losing oneself in.
That being said, I quite look forward to hearing more from this spacey and quite interesting electronic duo in the future!
Oops, looks like "In Love" was cancelled by YouTube. Here, from Bolshevik Disco is the awesome and sweet "You Are".
